Missy Hyatt has gone on record with a detailed account of an alleged sexual advance from Vince McMahon during her brief WWF run in 1987, claiming her refusal directly cost her a featured on-air role and led to a demeaning reassignment.
The former WCW and WWF personality revisited the episode on a recent edition of the Talk Is Jericho podcast.
Hyatt says the promotion originally planned a talk segment for her called “Missy’s Manor,” conceived along the lines of “Piper’s Pit,” where she would interview wrestlers.
According to Hyatt, those plans were scrapped after she turned McMahon down, and she was instead asked to become one of the company’s “Federettes,” collecting wrestlers’ entrance jackets at ringside.
Hyatt’s Account Of The Alleged Advance
When Chris Jericho brought up the Federette role, Hyatt described being unhappy with both the assignment and the outfit she was expected to wear.
They had brought panty hose for me… I was like, ‘Not wearing that.’ Like that was so degrading to me. You want me to take a ring jacket? I thought that was just so beneath me,” she said.
Hyatt then addressed the alleged advance directly, saying she was engaged at the time and turned McMahon down for that reason.
I should have done it. And I should have slept with him too because he tried and I wouldn’t. But I was engaged, you know… I do have a little bit of honor,” Hyatt said.
She was engaged to wrestler “Hot Stuff” Eddie Gilbert during her WWF tenure and cited that as the reason she rejected the alleged advance.
Hyatt has previously stated that she contacted the legal team representing former WWE employee Janel Grant, who filed a civil lawsuit accusing McMahon of sex trafficking and sexual assault, and provided a statement about her 1987 experience.
Grant’s suit, filed in January 2024, preceded McMahon’s resignation from his corporate roles with WWE and TKO. McMahon has denied Grant’s allegations and has consistently denied allegations of sexual misconduct, though he has not issued a separate public statement addressing Hyatt’s specific account.
After parting ways with the WWF, Hyatt joined Jim Crockett Promotions, later known as WCW, where she became a far more prominent on-screen figure through the late 1980s and into the 1990s. She credited announcer Jim Ross with giving her a real platform.
What really happened was Jim Ross gave me the opportunity to be a co-host with him. I think… my best stuff I ever did was with my ‘Missy Does the Mail’ segments,” Hyatt said.
She has also previously said she left the WWF because she no longer trusted the environment there.
